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‘The Drowned Girl’, from David Bowie’s 1982 Baal EP, recounts the suicide of Johanna, one of Baal’s underage former lovers.
The song – originally titled ‘Vom Ertrunkenen Mädchen’ – was co-written by Brecht with Kurt Weill, the only such instance on the Baal EP. Bowie’s version was singled out for praise by Dominic Muldowney, who arranged the music for the BBC adaption and accompanying release.
¨ The stand-out was ‘The Drowned Girl’, which is like an Ophelia song, where she dies in the river. He’s singing about ‘Her slow descent’ below the water, right down in the bass baritone. Then halfway through he jumps up the octave. I play this song to composers at the Royal Opera House on courses. When he sings up to the word ‘smoke’ it’s got smoke all around it, it’s cloudy. Then we get to the ‘k’ of smoke and you can see again. It’s an absolute tutorial in how to paint a text. The only other person I know can do that is Frank Sinatra. ¨
Dominic Muldowney
Starman, Paul Trynka
A black-and-white video for ‘The Drowned Girl’ was filmed by David Mallet in 1981, along with one for ‘Wild Is The Wind’. Both performances featured Bowie and four others miming to the song. The video for ‘The Drowned Girl’ featured Tony Visconti on acoustic guitar, Coco Schwab on saxophone, Mel Gaynor on trumpet, and Andy Hamilton on clarinet.
Written by: Kurt Weill, Bertolt Brecht
Recorded: 25, 26 November 1981
Producers: David Bowie, Tony Visconti
Arranger/conductor: Dominic Muldowney
Released: 13 March 1982
Available on:
A New Career In A New Town (1977–1982)
Information from: [ Ссылка ]
